Echinococcus infections in the Baltic region.

Marcinkutė A; Šarkūnas M; Moks E; Saarma U; Jokelainen P; Bagrade G; Laivacuma S; Strupas K; Sokolovas V; Deplazes P

doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.07.032

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Journal article

Echinococcus infections in the Baltic region.

Marcinkutė A Clinic of Infectious, Chest Diseases, Dermatovenereology and Allergology, Vilnius University and University Hospital Santariškių Clinics, Lithuania.
Šarkūnas M Department of Infectious Diseases, Veterinary Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilžės Street 18, 47181 Kaunas, Lithuania. Electronic address: minsar@lva.lt.
Moks E Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia.
Saarma U Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia.
Jokelainen P Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Bagrade G Latvian State Forest Research Institute "Silava", Salaspils, Latvia.
Laivacuma S Riga Stradins University, Riga, Latvia.
Strupas K Santariškių Clinics, Vilnius University, Lithuania.
Sokolovas V Santariškių Clinics, Vilnius University, Lithuania.
Deplazes P Institute of Parasitology, University of Zürich, Switzerland.

2015-09-02

Published in:

Veterinary parasitology. - 2015

English In the Baltic countries, the two zoonotic diseases, alveolar echinococcosis (AE) caused by Echinococcus multilocularis, and cystic echinococcosis (CE) caused by Echinococcus granulosus, are of increasing public health concern. Observations from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania indicate that the distribution of both parasites is wider in the Baltics than previously expected. In this paper, we review and discuss the available data, regarding both parasitoses in animals and humans, from the Baltic countries and selected adjacent regions. The data are not easily comparable but reveal a worrisome situation as the number of human AE and CE cases is increasing. Despite improvements in diagnostics and treatment, AE has a high morbidity and mortality in the Baltic region. For the control of both zoonoses, monitoring transmission patterns and timely diagnosis in humans as well as the development of local control programs present major challenges.

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